Hair Volume - Examining Hair Types

Hair with strands that are skinny in diameter is called fine hair and has a silky, baby-like feel. Although most people with fine hair have little of it, there are many fine-haired people who are blessed with an abundance of strands. Because it is so light in weight, fine hair is often flyaway and generally works best with unlayered or minimally layered cuts that don't remove too much weight.

Medium, or normal, hair strands are those of middling width. These strands form the most common type of hair texture. Medium-textured hair is neither flyaway nor wiry; instead, it i hangs where it's cut to hang - this makes it well-adapted to all kinds of haircuts.

Hair that is fat is referred to as coarse. This type of hair is usually strong, easy to style, and may have a wiry look. While many people with coarse hair have a lot of individual strands, it isn't uncommon to find coarse-haired individuals who have so few strands that their scalp shows. Because coarse hair can have a bristle-like finish when cut too short, avoid styles that feature ultra-brief layers.

The circumference of a hair's individual strands indicates its fineness. The diameter of a medium strand of hair is 0.004 inches (0.1 mm).

Hair volume

How many strands you have per square inch indicates your hair's thickness, which some hairdressers refer to as volume. To determine the quantity of hair you have, pull your hair back into a ponytail. If the diameter is approximately 3/8 inch (10 mm), you have thin hair;5/8 inch (15 mm), you have normal hair; and 3/4 inch (20 mm), you have thick hair.

Another way of determining volume is to check whether you can see a lot of scalp when your hair is wet. If you can, your hair is probably thin. Because there aren't a lot of strands to give it a full, fluffy look, thin hair has a tendency to hang close against the head, making the scalp visible. If you can see some areas of scalp, your hair's thickness is medium, which just happens to be the universal norm. If there is little or no scalp peeking through, you've probably got thick hair.

Hair of medium thickness works in many styles. Of course, hair's volume isn't the only thing to keep in mind when choosing a cut, but if yours is medium-thick, volume will be one less thing to consider. Because there is so much of it, thick hair often looks full ­even puffy - in the way it blankets the head. Adding layers thins strands out, giving a sleeker finish and helping locks lie better. When short, thick hair needs some layering; if worn all-one-length, tresses look mushroomy.